Don’t worry too much about CNBC’s lower ratings

Marketwatch.com media columnist Jon Friedman writes Wednesday that there shouldn’t be too much worry about the drop in ratings at CNBC.

Friedman writes, “But I can assure you CNBC’s management is privately irate about the talk that it’s displeased with Sorkin — or Bartiromo, for that matter. Officials correctly note that the two have built enviable personal brands.

“Sorkin’s Dealbook blog in the New York Times has emerged as a must-read for Wall Street. Bartiromo has few peers when it comes to repeatedly snaring high-profile interviews on camera.

“And yet, as the News piece noted, Nielsen ratings show that in the past year, the data for ‘Squawk Box’ have dropped 16% in total viewers and 29% in the essential 25-to-54 demographic. The Daily News suggested that the decline has accompanied Sorkin’s higher profile on the show.

“On one recent day, the News said, ‘Squawk’ generated its lowest total numbers of the year, 99,000.

“CNBC executives roll their eyes in disgust at such revelations. They insist that the Nielsen results don’t accurately reflect CNBC’s audience because CNBC’s viewers happen to be notably more affluent than those generally surveyed by Nielsen.”

Chris Roush is the Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Show me the Money," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.